Geraldine Brooks Luncheon & Giveaway

Geraldine Brooks at Friends Author Luncheon

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about this event! A few days ago (actually almost two weeks now!), I had the opportunity to attend the Council of Friends of Lancaster Country Author Library Luncheon featuring Geraldine Brooks. She won the Pulitzer Prize for goodness sakes!!! And I got to meet her!!!!

I arrived early at the luncheon to help my favorite bookstore Aaron's Books. They helped sponsor the event and they were also selling Ms. Brook's non-fiction and fiction books. Of course, I considered it a very lucky day for a number of reasons, but one of the highlights was that I got to live out a dream of mine... to be a bookstore employee. Because my friend Sam was under-the-weather, I got to actually help Aaron's sell books! I had a blast and, not to pat myself on the back or anything, my favorite Brooks' novel sold out! Just saying...

Grammy and I taking a break from selling books.

My friends at Aaron's didn't work me too hard, though; and I was fortunate enough to have a very nice lunch with my sister too. I also was able to sit in the auditorium for Ms. Brooks presentation. Her topic was "Caleb's Crossing and The Writing of Historical Fiction" and it was incredible. She was a very dynamic speaker and she also had a dry sense of humor. I swear she had about 400 people in the palm of her hand while she spoke about her career as a journalist and  novelist. I was amazed by how she comes up with the ideas for her novels, and I loved learning that the characters "speak" to her. (She must be a great listener!)

One of the most fascinating aspects of her talk was when she discussed how she researches her books. There is no doubt that her past as a journalist has helped her with her fact-finding methods. She does all of the research herself and she is extremely thorough. She gave specific examples of the types of research she did for CALEB'S CROSSING and PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, and I was truly blown away! Ms. Brooks has to be one of the most intelligent individuals that I've ever encountered.

This luncheon was a wonderful experience for me, and one that I will always treasure. If you are more interested in reading about the event, you can check out this.

Giveaway alert: I have two copies of Ms. Brooks' latest novel CALEB'S CROSSING to share with two lucky readers. The first paperback copy is one that I received for attending the luncheon. It is signed, but I want to let you know that it's a signed bookplate-- not an actual signed book. The second paperback copy will be provided by the fine folks at Penguin. To enter, just fill out the form below before June 7th at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winners the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. addresses only. Good luck!